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Doc.  No.  31.] 


[H.  of  R. 


REPORT 


FROM    THE, 


COMMITTEE  APPOINTED  AT  THE  LAST  SESSION  OF  THE 


LEGISLATURE  TO  INVESTIGATE  THE  AFFAIRS  OF 


INDIANA   UNIVERSITY. 


Read,  laid  on  the  table,  and  five  hundred  copies  ordered  to  be  printed 


To  THE  HON.  SAMUEL  JUDAH, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives: 

The  legislative  committee  appointed  by  a  resolution  of  th'e  General 
Assembly,  adopted  21st  .day  of  Feb.  A.  D.  1840,  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  of  the  State  University,  and  the  causes  of  its  decline,  as  also  to 
inquire  into  the  proper  means  to  be  adopted  to  secure  its  prosperity, 
and  also  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  establishing  an  agricul- 
tural professorship,  report  as  follows  to-wit: 

That  a  majority  of  said  committed  met  for  the  purpose  of  disc  harg 
54 


386 


n  g  the  duties  imposed  on  them  by  said  resolution,  at  the  University 
Chapel  in  Bloomington,  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1840,  and  commen- 
ced the  investigations  necessary  to  meet  the  requisitions  of  said  reso- 
lution. These  efforts  of  the  committee  were  materially  assisted  by  the 
action  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  said  University,  who  appointed  a 
committee  consisting  of  five  gentlemen  of  their  body,  to  meet  the  legis- 
lative committee,  and  furnish  them  with  such  information  in  their  pos- 
session as  might  be  found  useful  in  the  course  of  the  investigation 
then  proposed.  This  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  Hendricks,  Ow- 
en, West,  Hester  and  Maxwell,  and  the  committee  deem  it  an  act  of 
justice  to  these  gentlemen,  to  state  they  co-operated  efficiently  by 
promptly  answering  the  calls  made  on  them  for  information  by  the 
legislative  committee,  during  the  whole  of  its  session..  At  the  request 
of  the  committee  of  investigation,  they  were  furnished  by  the  commit- 
tee on  behalf  of  the  board  of  trustees,  with  a  condensed  •  historical  ac- 
count of  the  institution,  -as  alao  a  tabular  statement  of  the  funds  of  the 
institution. 

1  hese  documents  herewith  submitted,  (and  marked  No.  1  &  2)  are 
sufficiently  explicit  on  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  need  but  little  comment.  By  these  docu- 
ments it  appears  that  the  total  of  the  funds  of  the  college,  arising  from 
donated  lands  amounts  to  $1  17,821  84.  In  addition  to  other  informa- 
tion in  relation  to.  the  available  funds  of  the  University,  and  the 
amount  of  unsold  lands  belonging  to  it,  these  documents  contain  a  val- 
uable and  interesting  abstract  of  the  early  enactments  of  the  Territory 
in  relation  to  this  institution.  Your  committee  accord  fully  with  the 
deductions  drawn  by  the  committee  appointed  on  behalf  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  University  from  those  enactments,  and  cannot  express  too 
strongly  their  approbation  of  the  liberal  and  enlarged  views  of  the 
thrm  Governor,  and  Legislature  (1807)  ifl  relation  to  education.  Ma- 
ny of  the  provisions  of  those  enactments  are  worthy  of  imitation  at 
th<e  present  day. 

The  investigating  committee  -  next  directed  their  attention  to  the 
causes  of  the  decline  of  the'  University  in  public  favor.  The  conduct 
of  the  President  of  the  University,  has  been  on  more  than  one  occasion 
the  subject  of  severe  criticism  in  the  public  prints  and  elsewhere,  and 
the  committee  soon  after  their  meeting,  instituted  an  inquiry  into  the 
justice  of  these  complaints.  This  inquiry  was  conducted  openly,  and 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  every  legitimato  means  of  accusation  and 
defence.  The  committee  were  induced  to  take  a  wider  range  in  their 
investigations  into  this  matter,  than  they  would  otherwise  have  deem- 
ed necessry  or  proper,  from  the  fact  that  a  previous  investigation  into 
the  conduct  of  Doct.  Wylie  had  been  had,  and  complaints  had  been 
made  by  persons  inimical  to  him,  that  sufficient  latitude  had  not  been 
allowed  the  accusers  in  making  and  sustaining  their  charges  against 
him. 

After  the  most  patient  investigation  of  the  evidence  adduced,  the 
committee  unanimously  concur  in  the  acquittal  of  Doct.  Wylie  of  all 
the  charges  preferred  against  him,  and  see  no  reason  whatever  to 


387 

suppose  that  any  conduct  of  his  has  been  prejudicial  to, the  institution. 
On.  the  contrary  they  believe  him  to  be  eminently  qualified  for  the  sta- 
tion which  he  occupies,  and  find  from  the  investigation  that  he  has 
discharged  the  high  trusts  committed  to  him  with  an  ability  and  fidelity 
worthy  of  all  commendatidn;  although  surrounded  with  almost  insur- 
mountable difficulties  and  embarrassments.  The  committee  in  the 
course  of  their  investigations  called  upon  the  petitioners,  who  preferred 
those  complaints  to  the  legislature,  which  caused  the.  passage  of  the 
resolution  under  which  the  committee  of  investigation  acted,  and  none 
of  them  (except  one)  made  any  statements  calculated  to.  throw  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  blame  on  the  accused.  On  the  contrary  some 
of  those  petitioners  who  had  entertained  suspicions  injurious  to  Doct. 
Wylie  became  in  the  progress  of  the  investigation  so  well  satisfied  of 
the  injustice  of  those  suspicions,  as  to  be  induced  voluntarily  to  furnish 
your  committee  with  written  statements  expressive  of  their  approba- 
tion of  his  conduct. 

The  only  one  of  the  petitioners  who  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
Doct.  Wylie  had  been  to  blame  in  the  management  of  the  institution, 
did  not  support  that  opinion  by  any  testimony.  Your  committee  en- 
tered into  a  minute  inquiry  as  to  the1  causes  of  the  decline  of  the  Uni- 
versity in  the  number  of  its  students.  Your  committee  refer  to  docu- 
ment No.  3,  as  containing  the  opinions, of  the  President  of  the  institu- 
tion in  relation  to  its  decline.  On  the  same  subject  your  committee 
also  refer  to  document  No.  4,.  being  a  memorial  of  the  citizens  of 
Bloomirigton  and  of  the  county  of  Monroe,  remonstrating  against  the 
removal  of  the  University,  stating  their  opinion  of  the  causes  of  the 
decline  of  the  institution,  and  exempting  the  present  faculty  from  the 
censure  of  producing  it.  In  the  opinion  of  your  committee  the  causes 
which  have  produced  the  decline  of  the  University  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes.  1st,  Such  as  operate  injuriously  on  most  of  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  country;  and  42dly,  Such  as  are  peculiar  to  the  circum- 
stances of  this  institution  and  its  peculiar  organization  and  manage- 
ment. Under  the  first  head  the  most  prominent  of  those  causes  is  the 
indulgence  which  the  parents  of  the  students  have  been  disposed,  to 
grant  to  them  in  supplies  of  more  money  than  is*  sufficient  for  their 
reasonable  wants  during  the  sessions  of  the  university.  This  prac- 
tice always  induces,  extravagance  and  excesses  amongst  the  students, 
the  odium  of  which  is  by  the  community  thrown  on  the  institution.  To 
remedy  this  evil,  the  committee  would  suggest  a  legal  provision  re- 
quiring the  pocket  money  furnished  by  the  parents  to  the  students,  to 
be  paid  at  the  opening  of  each  session  of  the  University  into  the  hands 
of  some  officer,  appointed  by  the  faculty,  to  be  by  him  paid  out  for 
such  outlays  as  might  appear  in  his  discretion  to  be  reasonable  and 
proper,  and  in  connection  with  this  to  make  it  penal  for  the  shop-keep- 
ers and  other  dealers  in  goods  or  groceries  to  sell  to  the  students  on 
credit.  Under  the  present  head  may  also  be  stated  those  jealousies 
and  prejudices  existing  in  every  community  against  institutions  of 
learning  which  in  the  neighborhood  of  universities  assume  a  personal 


EB218B80 


388 

character  and  are  directed  against  the  persons  who  have  charge  of  the 
institution. 

The  Indiana  University  and  its  professors  have  suffered  in  no  small 
degree,  from  the  operations  of  this  cause. 

Under  the  second  head,  the  most  prominant  one  is  in  the  number 
of  the  board  ol  trustees,  (21.)  In  order  to  avoid  the  influences  of  sec- 
tarianism, it  was  thought  best  to  have  a  large  number  of  trustees.  In 
the  choosing  these  trustees,  men  of  different  religidus  predjudices 
were  thrown  together  in  such  a  manner  as  to,combine  all  the  elements 
of  religious  discord.  This  method  of  choice  has  resulted  in  petty 
bickerings  and  discontents,  which  have  operated  very  injuriously  on 
this  institution  and  the  reputation  of  the  professors.  To  remedy  this 
evil,  the  committee  propose  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  the  board. 

Your  committee  found  on  investigation,  that  this  institution  had 
been  injured  to  some  extent,  by  several  rival  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries,  the  management  of  which  .had  been  placed  in  the  hands 
of  persons  belonging  to  some  of  the  religious  sects  of  the  country. 

While  the  committee  approve  of  allowing  the  fullest  latitude  to  the 
various  religious  sects  of  the  community  in  educating  their  children  in 
their  own  way,  they  believe  it  right  for  the  public  to  sustain  at  least 
one  college  in  which  the  sciences  are  taught  and  the  morality  of  the 
bible  inculcated,  without  any  reference  to  the  peculiar  tenets  of  any 
sect  of  Christians;  and  they  therefore  recommend  to  the  guardian  care 
of  the  legislature  our  present  State  University.  After  a  full  examina- 
tion of  the  subject,  your  committee  can  see  no  good  reason  at  pre- 
sent for  the  removal  either  of  the  University  or  the  President.  Your 
committee  believe  the  reasoning  in  reference  to  the  removal  of  the 
institution,  in  the  document  (No.  5)  herewith  submitted,  to  be  conclu- 
sive, and  are  indisposed  to  weaken  those  arguments  by  attempting  to 
expand  them. 

The  present  faculty  have  been  selected  with  a  view  to  their  high 
moral  character  and  scientific  acquirements,  and  the  committee  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  institution  under  their  superinten- 
dence, will  be  well  and  ably  managed.  We  deem  it  unnecessary  at 
this  time  to  form  an  agricultural  pofessorship  in  the  Indiana  Universi- 
ty. The  public  mind  is  already  aroused  on  that  subject,  and  societies 
are  springing  up  over  the  St^te,  which  will  doubtless  accomplish  the 
objects  of  such  a  professorship  in  an  effectual  manner. 

Your  committee  herewith  submit  a  bill  embracing  such  provisions 
as  they  deem  necessary  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution,  and  recom- 
mend its  adoption. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

JAS.  H.  CRAVENS,  Chairman. 
JOHNSON  WATTS, 
JOS.  S.  JENCKES. 


I 

389 


HON.  JAMES  H.  CRAVENS, 

CHAIRMAN  OF  LEGISLATIVE  COMMITTEE. 

SIR: 

t 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  Indiana  Uni- 
versity, to  meet  and  receive  -  your  committee,  having  received  from 
your  Secretary  a  resolution  requesting  that  they  would  furnish  to  you 
a  condensed  history  of  |he  institution  from  its  origin,  have  had  that 
subject  under  consideration,  and  vnow  submit  to  you  the  result,  in 
the  following 

REPORT: 

The  reservation  of  land  by  Congress,  whence  the  present  endow- 
ment of  the  Indiana  University  is  derived,  consists  of  two  townships, 
one  in  Gibson  county,  the  other  in  Mpnroe  county,  both  in  this  state. 

The  reservation  of  the  Gibson  county  township,  and  its  original  ap- 
propriation for  the  support  of  a  University,  are  contained  in  some  apt 
of  Congress,  not  to  be  found  among  the  documents  prefixed  to  our 
revised  code,  nor  in  any  other  work  of  reference  now  within  the 
reach  of  the  committee  of  trustees.  The  exact  date  of  that  act  of  Con- 

fress  is  unknown    to  the  committee;  but   it  is  dated  before   the  17th 
eptember    1807. 

For,  among  the  "laws  of  Indiana  .Territory"  published  by  authority 
in  1 807,  occurs  an  "act  to  incorporate  an  University  in  the  Indiana 
Territory,"  approved  September  17,  1807;  the  second  section  of 
which  commences  as  follows:  "And  whereas  Congress  has  appro- 
priated a  township  of  land  of  twenty-three  thousand  and  forty  acres, 
for  the  use  and  support  of  the  University  or  a  public  school  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Vincennes,  and  whereas  the  township  is  now  located  and  the 
boundaries  designated  &c."  , 

The  preamble  and  provisions  of  the  act  above  referred  to,  to  "incor- 
porate an  University  in  the  Indiana  [Territory,"  afford  striking  proof 
how  liberal  and  enlightened,  even  in  these-eiarly  days,  nine  years  be- 
fore Indiana  became  a  state  or  obtained  a  constitution,  were  the  views 
of  her  legislators,  on  the  subject  of  education;  and  are  well  worthy  of 
preservation  and  remembrance. .  ' 

The  close  of  the  preamble  reads  thus:  "And  for  as  much  as 
literature  and  philosophy  furnish  the  most  useful  and  pleasing  occupa- 
tions, improving  and  varying  the  enjoyments  of  prosperity,  affording 
relief  under/the  pressure  of  misfortune,  and  hope  and  consolation  in 
the  hour  of  death,  and  considering  that  in  a  commonwealth  where 
the  humblest  citizen  may  be  elected  to  the  highest  public  offices,  and 
where  the  heaven-born  privilege,  of  the  right  to  elect  and  reject,  is  re- 


390 

tained  and  secured  to  the  citizens;  the  knowledge  which  is  requisite  for 
a  magistrate  and  elector  should  be  widely  diffused,"  therefore  be  it  en- 
acted &c. 

The  further  provisions  of  the  act  are  in  accordance  with  this  noble 
exordium.  The  sixth  section  provides,  "That  the  trustees  shall,  as 
speedily  as  may  be,  establish  and  erect  an  University,  within  the 
limits  of  the  borough  of  Vincennes,  and  shall  appoint  to  preside  over, 
and  govern  the  said  University,  a  President  and  not  exceeding  four 
Professors,  'for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the,  Latin,  Greek,  French 
and  English  languages,  Mathematics,  Natural  Philsophy,  Ancient  and 
Modern  History,  Moral  Philosophy,  Logic,  Rhetoric,  and  the  law  of 
Nature  and  of  Nations." 

The  same  principal  which  is  still  incorporated  in  our  present  char- 
ter, guarding  against  sectarianism,  is  set  forth  in  the  tenth  section  of 
the  above  act,  in  the  following  words:  "Be  it  further  enacted,  that  no 
particular  tests  of  religion  shall  be  taught  in  the  said  University,  by 
the  President  and '  Professors  mentioned  in  the  sixth  section  of  this 
act." 

The  next  section  provides,  that  the  trustees  shall  "use  their  utmost 
endeavors  to  induce  the  Aborigines  to  send  their  children  to  the  Univer- 
sity, for  education,  who  when  sent  shall  be  maintained,  clothed  and 
educated  at  the  expense  of  the  institution."  And  further,  "that  the 
students,  whenever  the  funds  of  the  institution  shall,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  trustees,  permit  it,  be  educated  gratis  at  the  said  University,  in  all 
or  any  of  the  branches  of  education  which  they  may  require." 

Again,  in  the  thirteenth  section,  is  a  provision  of  acknowledged  im- 
portance, yet,  to  judge  by  the  charter  of  our  University,  beyond  the 
immediate  views  of  our  Legislature,  even  at  the  present  day.  In  that 
section,  it  is  enacted,  "that  the  said  trustees,  as  soon  as  in  their  opin- 
ion, the  funds  of  the  institution  -will  admit,  are  hereby  required  to  es- 
tablish an  insti  tut  ion^  for  the  education  of  females,  and  to  make  such 
by-laws  and  ordinances  for  the  said  institution,  and  the  government 
thereof,  as  they  may  think  proper." 

Finally,  in  further  evidence  of  the  extended  views  of  those  days, 
we  find,  in  the  15th  section,  the  enactment,  "That  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  a  library  and  the  necessary  philosophical  and  experimental 
apparatus,  agreeably  to  the  eighth  section  of  this  law,  there  shall  be 
raised  a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty  thousand  dollars."  The  means  by 
which  this  sum  was  to  be  raised,  were  less  praiseworthy  than  the  ob- 
ject in  raising  it.  It  was  to  be  "by  a  lottery." 

As  regards  the  amount  of  land  which,  by  the  above  act,  the  trustees 
were  authorized  to  sell;  the  second  section  provides,  that  the  Trustees 
may  dispose  of  "any  quantity  not  exceeding  four  thousand  acres." 

By  subsequent  acts  of  Congress,  to  which  the  committee  of  trustees 
cannot,  at  this  moment,  refer,  the  further  sale  of  these  lands  to  the 
amount  of  thirteen  sections  (including  the  above  4000  acres)  was  author- 
ized: and  they  were  sold  and  the  proceeds  expended  for  the  use  of  the 
university. 

So  that,  when,  by  act  of  Congress,  approved  April  19th,  1816,  "to 


391 

enable  the  people  of  Indiana  territory  to  form  a  constitution  and 
state  government"  it  was  enacted  "that  one  entire  township  which 
shall  be  designated  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  addition 
to  the  one  heretofore  reserved  for  that  purpose,  shall  be  reserved  for 
the  use  of  a  seminary  of  learning,  and  vested  in  the  legislature  of  the  said 
state,  to  be  appropriated  solely  to  the  use  of  such  seminary  by  the  said 
legislature;"  the  total  quantity  of  land  thus  appropriated,  was  two 
townships,  less  thirteen  sections;  or  fifty  nine  sections;  or  thirty-seven 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

This  land,  with  the  exception  of  about  4,800  acres,  has  all  been  sold 
and  the  proceeds  appropriated  for  the  use  and  support  of  the  present 
institution,  at  first  under  the  name  of  the  "State  Seminary,"  after- 
wards as  the  "Indiana  College,"  and  now  as  the  "Indiana  University." 
The  above  4,800  acres,  still  unsold,"  are  estimated  by  the  Treasurer  of 
State  as  worth  2,500  dollars. 

It  appears  by  "an  act  to  provide  for  the  sale  of  the  Seminary  town- 
ship in  Gibson  county,  and  for  other  purposes,  approved  January  2d, 
1823,"  that,  at  some  time  previously,  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Vin- 
cennes  University  had  ceased  to  exist.  The  preamble  to  the  seventh 
section  of  the  above  act  reads  thus:  "Whereas  it  is  stated  to  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  the  former  board  of  trustees  of  the  <Vincennes 
University  has  expired  by  the  negligence  of  its  members,"  &c. 

At  what  precise  date  this  board  expired,  the  committee  have  not 
been  able  to  discover:  but  it  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  previously 
to  the  year  1820;  for  by  an  "act  to  establish  a  State  Seminary  and  for 
other  purposes,  approved  January  20,  1820,"  this  institution  was  es- 
tablished at.  Bloomington  and  the  trustees  of  the  said  State  Seminary 
were  empowered  to  sell  any  quantity  of  land  in  the  reserved  township 
in  Monroe  county,  not  exceeding  in  all  one  section. 

The  act  referred  to  is  very  brief,  and  provides  for  little  else  except 
the  sale  of  the  above  lands,  and  the  erection,  out  of  the  proceeds  there- 
of, of  "a  suitable  building  for  a  State  Seminary  and  also  a  suitable  and 
commodious  house  for  a  Professor,"  Its  tone  and  the  limited  charac- 
ter of  its  provisions  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  liberal  views  incor- 
porated in  the  qharter  of  the  Vincennes  university,  granted  thirteen 
years  before,  in  the  very  infancy  of  Indiana  territory. 

Various  supplementary  acts  were  -passed,  from  time  to  time  aug- 
menting the  number  of  the  trustees  of  the  said  State  Seminary,  per- 
mitting them  to  loan  money,  and  authorizing  the  renting  and  sale  of 
additional  lands. 

Of  these  the  most  important  is  an  act  approved  January  25th,  1827, 
appointing  James  Smith  Commissioner  to  sell  the  Gibson  county  town- 
ship,'and  James  Borland  Commissioner  to  sell  the  Monroe  county 
township,  and  fixing  the  minimum  price  of  said  land,  if  first  rate  at 
three  dollars  and  fifty  cents:  if  second  rate  at  two  dollars  and  twenty- 
five  cents;  and  if  third  rate  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre.  The  same  act,  by  its  tenth  section,  provides  that  three  sections 
of  the  Seminary  lands  in  Monroe  county  contiguous  to  the  section 
heretofore  sold  shall  be  reserved  from  sale. 


392 

About  the  same  time  an  act  was  passed,  approved  January  26th, 
1827,  appointing  a  board  of  visiters  to  the  State  Seminary  at  Bloom- 
ington. 

By  an  act  approved  January  24th,  1828,  the  State  Seminary  was 
superseded  by  the  "Indiana  College,"  established  "for  the  education  of 
youth  in  the  American,  learned  and  foreign  languages,  the  useful  arts, 
sciences  and  literature."  t 

By  that  act  it  was  provided  (section  12)  that  "all  moneys  arising 
from  the  sale  of  the  seminary  townships  in  the  counties  of  Monroe 
and  Gibson,  shall  be,  and  forever  remain,  a  permanent  fund  for  the 
support  of  said  college,  and  the  interest  arising  from  the  amount  of 
said  sales,  together  with  the  thr-ee  reserved  sections  in  the  seminary 
townships  situated  in  the  county  of  Monroe,  and  all  the  buildings 
which  have  been  erected  adjacent  to  the  town  of  Bloomington,  in 
said  county  of  Monroe,  for  the  use  of  the  State  Seminary,  with  all 
the  real  and  personal  property  of  every  description  belonging  to  or 
connected  with  -said  State  Seminary,  as  the  property  of  the  State,  and 
all  gifts,  grants  and  donations,  which  have  been  or  hereafter  may  be 
made,  for  the  support  of  the  college,  shall  be  and  hereby  forever  are 
vested  in  the  aforesaid  trustees  and  their  successors." 

By  the  same  act,  a  board  of  Visiters  consisting  of  five  members, 
was  appointed;  and  it  was  made  their  duty  annually  to  visit  the  col- 
lege, inspect  the  course  pursued  by  the  trustees  and  faculty,  examine 
the  books  of  the  college,  and  make  a  report  of  their  examination?, 
inspections  and  inquiries,  to  the  Governor,  to  be  by  him  laid  before 
the  General  Assembly.  Of  these  visiters  three  were  to  constitute  a 
quorum;  but  during  the  ten  years'  existence  of  the  college,  a  quorum 
was  present  but  once;  and  during  the  latter  half  of  the  period  refer- 
red to,  to  wit:  during  the  last  five  years  of  the  existence  of  the  college, 
none  of  the  board  officially  visited  the  college,  or  reported  in  connex- 
ion therewith. 

Finally,  by  an  "act-to  establish  a  University  in  the  State  of  India- 
na," approved  February  15,  1838,  the  institution  reached  its  highest 
grade,  and  all  the  estate,  funds,  property,  rights  and  demands,  former- 
ly vested  in  the  trustees  of  the  college,  were  transferred  to  the  trus- 
tees of  the  university,  in  whom  they  still  remain  vested. 

This  act  incorporating  the  "Indiana  University,"  is,  in  its  general 
provisions,  a  transcript  of  the  charter  of  "Indiana  College,"  with  this 
difference'.,  that  no  board  of  visiters  is  appointed,  and  that  the  number 
of  trustees  0f  the  University  is  increased  to  twenty-two,  from  the 
number  of  fifteen,  appointed  under  the  college  charter.  Also,  by  the 
charter  of  the  university,  the  power  of  conferring  degrees  in  law  and 
medicine  is  added  to  the  power  formerly  vested  in  the  college,  of 
granting  degrees  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences. 

The  total  funds  of  the  university,  originally  derived  from  the  re- 
served lands,  as  above  explained,  are  estimated  by  the  trustees  as  fol- 
lows: 

Productive  funds,  including  moneys  at  interest, 


393 

moneys  due  or  in  hand,  and  a  small  amount 
of  lands  for  sale,  (say  $2,500  worth,  not  ac- 
tually productive  at  this  time,)  $98,471  84 

Deduct  debts  due  by  the  University,  chiefly  to 
the  Branch  at  Bedford  of  the  State  Bank  of 
Indiana,  -  -  3,650 

94,821   84 

Unproductive  property,  chiefly  real  estate,  in- 
cluding the  University  Campus  and  buildings 
thereon;  including  also  the  library  and  ap- 
paratus, 23,000  00 

Total,      -  $117,821   84 

For  the  separate  items  which  make  up  the  above  amount  and  ex- 
hibit in  detail  the  resources  of  the  University,  your  committee  is  re- 
ferred to  document  F,  spread  on  the  records  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
at  pages  66,  67,  and  68,  with  its  accompanying  documents  D,  C,  and 
B;  of  which  accompanying  documents  the  former  marked  D,  is  recor- 
ded on  the  said  records  at  pages  72  and  63;  and  of  the  two  latter,  the 
first  is  recorded  in  the  book  entitled  "Commissioner's  Reports,"  and 
the  last  in  the  book  entitled  "Treasurer's  Reports;",  all  of  which  books 
and  reports  have  already  been  placed  by  the  committee  of  trustees  In- 
the  hands  of  your  committee. 

The  committee  of  trustees  further  begs  to  refer  your  committee  to 
document  G,  on  pages  70  and  71  of  the  records  of  the  University,  as 
exhibiting  in  full  the  probable  expenses  and  available  means  of  the  in- 
stitution, for  the  ensuing  year. 

Any  further  information  on  these  or  other  subjects  which  is  within 
the  reach  of  the  committee  of  trustees,  they  will  cheerfully  furnish. 
In  the  meantime  the  above  is  respectfully  submitted. 

D.  H.  MAXWELL,  Chairman. 
WILLIAM  HENDRICKS, 
C.  P.  HESTER, 
ROBERT  DALE  OWEN, 
NATHAN'L  WEST, 

Committee  of  Trustees. 
Bldomington,  May  20,  1 840. 

55 


394 


TO  THE  INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE. 

GENTLEMEN: — By  virtue  of  -certain  resolutions  passed  by  you,  the 
undersigned  has  been  laid  under  the  obligation  of  stating  to  you  his 
opinion,  as  to  what  have  been  "the  causes  of  the  decline  of  the  Uni- 
versity in  the  number  of  the  students,"  and  as  to  what  legislative-  ac- 
tion he  may  think  necessary  »kto  secure  and  promote  its  prosperity:" — 
and  by  another  resolution  it  is  made  his  duty  to  submit  to  you  "a  brief 
account  of  the  paternal  system"  of  government. 

In  compliance  with  the  will  of  the  committee,  as  expressed  in  those 
resolutions,  the  undersigned  respectfully  submits  the  following  state- 
ment: 

First,  as  to  the  decline  of  the  University  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  students: 

In  the  sessions  of  1837-8,  there  were  students  in  actual 

attendance,  105 

In  the  ensuing  winter  session  of  1839,  there   were  in 

actual  attendance,  78 

Shewing  a  decrease  of,  -  27 

This  diminution  was,  I  think,  owing  to  the  following  causes: 

1.  In  the  year  preceding  the  diminution,  several  students  had  in- 
dulged themselves  in  idle  and  extravagant  habits,  by  which  their  pa- 
rents were  put  to  a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  expense  and  the  institu- 
tion itself  brought,  to  a  considerable  extent,  into  disrepute. 

About  all  places  to  which  youth  resort,  who  have  money  to  spend, 
persons  will  be  found  who  hesitate  not  to  make  use  of  dishonorable 
methods  to  possess  themselves  of  it:— sharks,  that  prey  upon  the  in* 
discretion  of  the  generous,  the  confiding,  the  inexperienced.  And, 
afterwards,  when  the  natural  consequence  of  their  short-sighted  sel- 
fishness takes  place,  in  the  diminution  of  the  number  of  their  victims, 
these  very  persons  are  first  and  loudest  in  their  clamors  and  complaints, 
attributing  of  course,  the  matter .  which  is  the  subject  of  their  com- 
plaints to  any  other  than  the  true  cause. 

2.  About  the  time  when  the  cause  just  referred  to  was  secretly  prey- 
ing upon  the  root  of  the  institution's  prosperity,  dissatisfaction,  jeal- 
ousy  and  discord  began  to  take   place  in  a  certain  portion  of  the  fa- 
culty, which,  as  it  covertly  sent  forth  its  influence  among  the  students, 
had  a  tendency  to  diminish,  arid  did,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  dimin- 
ish their  number. 

3.  Simultaneously  with  the  operation  of  these  causes  there  rose  up 
other  institutions  within  that  region  to  which  the  Indiana  University 
naturally  looks  for  a  supply  of  students; — one  at  Crawfordsville,  one 
at  Greencastle,  one  at  Hanover,   and  one  at  Vincennnes, — three  of 
them  colleges,  the  fourth  a  University; — besides  these,  another  insti- 


395 

tution,  designed  I  believe  to  become  a  college,  situated  at  Franklin, 
still  less  remote  from  the  seat  of  the  Indiana  University  than  any  of 
the  others;  though  all  of  them  are  within  a  circle  of  not  more  than 
about  an  hundred  miles  in  diameter. 

The  agents  employed  by  some  of  these  institutions  have  presented 
their  claims,  not  unsuccessfully,  even  in  Bloomington  itself,  and  among 
the  students  of  the  University.  The  sectarian  spirit,  on  the  strength 
of  which  these  rival  institutions  depend,  in  part,  for  their  support,  be- 
gan, about  the  tin?e  to  which  this  part  of  my  narrative  refers,  to  direct  • 
a  fervid  and  unkind  influence  upon  the  Indiana  University:  and  with 
what  ultimate  design  this  was  done  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that 
from  statements  made  before  the.  board  of  trustees  at  their  last  meet- 
ing, it  appears  the  proposition  is  openly  made  to  destroy  the  Indiana 
University  at  once,  by  taking  away  its  charter  and  dividing  its  funds 
among  the  other  institutions  just  referred  to. 

The  undersigned  simply  mentions  these  things  as  historical  facts, 
and  without  any  intention  of  reflecting  censure  upon  the  friends  of 
these  other  institutions,  whose  zeal  in  their  favor  and  in  opposition 
to  the  Indiana  University,  proceeds,  it  may  be  charitably  supposed, 
from  an  honest  conviction  that  no  State  institution  can  be  made  to 
prosper,  or  at  least,  that  there  is  "a  more  excellent  way"  for  conduct- 
ing the  interests  of  education,  than  that  which  is  prescribed  by  the 
charter  of  the  Indiana  University. 

Many  good  people  think  their  children  can  be  preserved  from  those 
influences  which  they  consider  dangerous  to  their  moral  and  religious 
character,  only  by  placing  them  in  institutions  which  they,  as  a  reli- 
gious sect,  can  guard  and  manage  as  they  think  best.  Such  is  their 
honest  belief;  and  they  have  acted  and  will  act  according  to  it.  It  is  theiiv 
right;  and  the.  undersigned,  although  he  thinks  he  has  had  some  reason 
to  complain  of  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  exercised,  has  no  dis- 
•  position  to  say  a  word  in  opposition  to  the  right  itself.  It  is  one  which 
he  holds  to  himself  most  dear,  and  which  he  most  cheerfully  allows 
in  its  legitimate  exercise,  to  all  others. 

He  might  mention  other  co-operating  causes,  but  it  is  unnecessary. 
The  above  mentioned  are,  he  thinks,  of  themselves  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  the  diminution  in  the  number  of  students  which,  to  the 
amount  of  twenty-five  or  twenty -six,  had  taken  place  in  the  winter 
of  1  839. 

There  was, -indeed,  another  cause  which  had  been  operating  in- the 
board  of  trustees,  to  retard  the  growth  of  the  institution  while  it  was 
a  college,  and  which  had  done  more  than  all  others  to  produce  the  di- 
minution in  question.  But  it  deserves  a  distinct  notice  by  itself;  be- 
cause it  has  continued  to  exert,  and  still  exerts  at  this  moment,  a  pow- 
erful influence  in  opposition  to  the  best  interests  of  the  University, 
and  has  produced  a  still  further  reduction  in  the  number  of  its  pu- 
pils. 

The.  progress  of  your  investigations,  gentlemen,  will,  I  trust,  show 
the  following  train  of  facts  to  have  sprung  from  the  agency  of  the 
man  who  now  stands  before  you  in  the  character  of  an  accuser. 

' 


396 

That  he  had  repeated  quarrels  with  students; — that  he  was  a  turbu- 
lent member  of  the  board; — that  his  violence  towards  Mr.  E.  N.  Elliott 
drove  from  the  institution  that  gentleman,  who  took  with  him  Mr.  D. 
Maxwell,  superintendent  of  the  Preparatory  Department; — that  when, 
by  extraordinary  efforts  to  meet  the  emergency  thus  brought  upon  the 
instisution,  Mr.  Ruter  and  Mr.  Dodd  were  induced  to  enter  into  the 
Faculty  and  give  their  aid  in- carrying  forward  the  business  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  departments  assigned  them,  he  contrived  to  invade  the 
province  of  the  Faculty  and  disturb  the  harmony  of  their  operations, 
by  a  resolution  assigning  a  part  of  the  duties  belonging  to  one  of  these 
professors  to  another  who  was  less  competent  to  perform  them; — that 
by  interfering  with  the  office  of  Janitor,  he,  in  concert  with  certain 
other  individuals,  members  of  the  board,  so  managed,  that  though  the 
Janitor's  salary  was  doubled,  the  duties  of  the  office  were  very  imper- 
fectly performed,  leaving  the  Faculty  and  students  to  suffer  great  in- 
convenience in  consequence; — that  he  contrived  to  produce  further 
difficulty  and  embarrassment  to  the  Faculty,  by  usurping  the  power  of 
making  laws  for  the  government  of  the  institution, — that  he  exerted 
himself  to  prevent  the  undersigned  from  carrying  into  effect  the  known 
will  of  the  President  of  the  board,  in  particular,  and  of  the  whole  board 
collectively,  in  regard  to  the  purchase  of  books  and  apparatus  which 
were  essential  to  the  very  existence  of  the  institution; — and  finally 
that  when,  for  pursuing  this, course  of  conduct,  he  was  left  out  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  upon  the  occasion  of  its  re-organization  by  the 
Legislature,  he  adopted  the  resolution  of  being  either  reinstated  in  his 
former  place  or  "tearing  down"  the  institution,  he  did,  to  carry  out 
and  accomplish  said  resolution,  exhibit  before  the  Legislature  in  the 
winter  of  1838 — 9,  certain  false  and  scandalous  charges  against  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  against  the  undersigned. 

What  must  necessarily  result  from  such  a  course  of  conduct  on  the 
part  of  a  Trustee  of  the  institution  is  sufficiently  manifest.  I  shall  call 
your  attention  particularly  to  one  fact  in  the  series:  I  refer  to  the  fact 
that  the  aforesaid  charges  were  presented  before  the  Legislature,  by 
one  who  had  been  a  Trusteet  and  purporting  to  be  endorsed  by  two 
others,  who  were  still  Trustees,  and  acting,  therefore,  under  the  most 
solemn  obligation  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  institution  committed 
to  their  care. 

The  news  of  a  fact,  so  novel  and  extraordinary,  flew,  as  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind,  all  over  the  country.  It  was  published  in  the  news- 
papers in  the  city  of  New  York,  not  long  after  it  happened,  and  was 
speedily  spread  all  over  the  Union.  It  produced,  of  course,  different 
impressions  on  different  minds:  but  whatever  might  be  the  precise 
character  of  the  impression  in  each  particular  case — it  could  not  fail 
to  operate,  for  a  time,  to  the  detriment  of  the  institution.  The  friends 
of  the  undersigned  would  regard  the  charges  as  malicious  and  unfound- 
ed: and  they,  of  course,  would  have  their  faith  in  the  institution  shaken, 
because,  being  a  State  institution,  it  is  exposed  to  such  attacks.  His 
enemies  would,  of  course,  consider  them  true,  and  be  confirmed  and 
encouraged  in  their  hostility.  Others  would  not  know  what  to  think; 

•* 


397 

and  they,  of  course,  while  in  this  state  of  suspense,  would  give  the 
preference  to  any  ojher  institution  which  might  present  any  thing  like 
equal  claims  to  their  regard.  Others  again  who  are  governed  not  by 
reason,  but  by  proverbs,  would  shake  their  wise  heads  and  exclaim 
"Where  there  is  so  much  smoke  there  must  be  some  fire:"  they  would 
condemn  the  undersigned,  as  did  a  certain  member  of  the  Legislature, 
simply  because  "there  should  be  no  disturbance  in  a  literary  institu- 
tion." These  charges,  it  is  true,  were  afterwards  investigated  by  the 
board,  and  pronounced  false  and  unfounded.  But  what  of  that?  The 
mischief  had  been  done.  The  poison  was  diffusing  itself  and  had  been 
working,  for  months,  in  the  public  mind,  before  the  antidote  could  be 
applied. 

The  board,  on  investigation  of  the  charges,  though  they  pronounced 
the  undersigned  not  guilty,  found, "in  the  course  of  their  investigation, 
cause  for  removing  three  out  of  the  five  professors  then  in  the  institu- 
tion. The  chairs  thus  vacated  have  but  just  been  filled.  The  fact  of 
their  having  been  vacated  could  have  produced,  in  no  conceivable  cir- 
cumstances, any  other  immediate  effect  than  that  which  actually  fol- 
lowed it, — a  further  reduction  in  the  number  of  students. 

As  to  the  act  of  the  board  itself,  the  undersigned  has  nothing  to  say. 
Right  or  wrong,  expedient  or  inexpedient,  such  as  has  been  stated,  was 
its  inevitable  consequence. 

Another  cause  to  which  it  may  be  proper  just  to  advert  is  the  fact 
that  the  Department  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Chemistry  has  not  been, 
till  very  recently,  that  is,  only  two  weeks  since,  furnished  with  a 
Laboratory;  the  Professor  being  under  the  necessity  of  performing  his 
experiments  at  the  fire  of  a  common  stove.  Students  coming  hither 
from  abroad,  and  finding  the  institution^-though nominally  a  Universi- 
ty— deficient  in  so  essential  a  part  of  its  organization,  would  naturally 
feel  disappointed,  and  communicate  their  feelings',  by  letter,  to  their 
friends:  so  that,  if  they  should  not  go  away,  others,  at  least,  would  be 
prevented  from  coming.  So  deeply  has  this  consideration,  with  others 
of  a  like  nature,  pressed  on  the  mind  of  the  undersigned  himself,  anx- 
ious though  he  is  to  increase  the  number  of  students,  that  he  never  has 
made  any  special  effort  for  this  purpose.  Till  now,  it  would  have  .been 
premature:  for,  not  till  now  has  our  organization,  even  as  a  college, 
been  complete. 

And  here  the  undersigned  may  be  permitted  to  suggest  a  thought, 
as  to  the  principle  assumed  in  the  representations  that  have  been  made 
to  the  legislature  and  the  public,  in  regard  to  the  number  of  our 
students.  It  has  been  stated  to  be  less — at  one  time  by  twenty-five; 
at  another,  by  fourteen  than  it  actually  was.  But .  on  this  I  make  no 
comment.  I  advert  to  the  principle  which  assumes  that  the  number 
of  students  actually  at  a  college,  is  a  sure  indication  of  its  character 
and  prospects,  at  the  time.  Numbers  however,  taken  alone,  afford  no 
such  indication.  The  causes  which  affect  numbers,  either  in  the  way 
of  increase  or  diminution,  operate  slowly  and  often  most  effectually, 
when,  as  yet,  they  are  latent  from  the  public  eye.  Our  own  history 
affords  a  recent  instance  of.this.  In  1837,  when  our  number  was  the 


398 

greatest,  causes  were  at  work  which  diminished  it  rapidly:  and  now,  on 
the  other  hand,  when  our  number  is  reduced  to  about  half  of  what 
it  was,  it  requires  not  the  eye  of  divination  to  see  in  the  condition  of 
the  University  the  prognostics  of  a  certain  and  a  steady  increase. 
The  institution  has  not  indeed  passed  the  crisis:  but  it  has  reached  that 
point  in  it,  at  which  adverse  influences  having  exhausted  their  force — 
"vitamquein  vuinere  ponunt" — thoseof  an  opposite  character  will  begin 
to  exert  themselves. 

4.  To  proceed,  gentlemen,  to  the  next  question  that,  namely,  which 
respects  the  action  of  the  Legislature — three  things,  it  seems  to  the 
undersigned,  ought  to  be  regarded,  as  the  elements  of  prosperity  to 
any  literary  institution — the  character  of  the  board  and  faculty,  the 
character  of  the  sphere  within  which  the  powers  of  the  institution  are 
to  operate,  and  the  furniture  of  means  with  which  it  is  supplied  to 
effect  its  objects. 

By  the  "prosperity"  of  the  Institution,  it  is  taken  for  granted  that 
more  than  the  mere  number  of  students  is  intended.  Institutions  may 
be  so  conducted  as  to  attract  numbers,  and  to  keep  up  a  succession  of 
numbers  too,  and  yet  generate  nothing  but  pestilence  and  moral  death 
for  the  community.  The  moral  capacities,  as  well  as  the  intellectual 
powers  of  the  pupils  must  be  educated.  Their  weaknesses  must  not 
be  flattered:  nor  their  indolence  soothed.  Modesty  of  deportment 
and  deference  to  superiority  in  knowledge,  virtue,  and  experience 
must  be  inculcated.  Honesty 'and  simplicity  of  character  and  pur- 
pose must  be  taught;  as  well  as  literature  and  science.  That  me- 
thod which  will  best  effect  these  ends  will  not,  at  first,  attract  num- 
bers. In  the  long  run  it  may.  What  is  morally  wrong  grasps  at 
present  advantages,  which  TIME,  deified  in  ancient  .mythology,  de- 
stroys. The  poisonous  mushroom  springs  up  in  a  night:  the  growth  of 
the  oak  is  marked  by  the  lapse  of  ages.  The  good  are  content  to 
sow,- that  others  who  are  to  come  after  them  may  reap  the  harvest. 

To  insure  that  kind  of  prosperity  which  is  really  desirable  for  a 
literary  Institution,  the  Faculty  in'  the  first  place,  should  be  com- 
posed of  men  whose  characters  are  neither  feeble  through  intellectual 
imbecility,  nor  marked  with  moral  turpitude.  By  the  way,  it  should  be 
remarked,  that  when  raised  to  a  place  above  its  proper  level,  intellectu- 
al imbecility  too -frequently  becomes  moral  turpitude:  for  to  sustain 
itself  it  is  constantly  tempted  to  resort  to  dishonest  and  time-serving 
expedients. 

Such  as  cannot  succeed  in  other  professions  are  sometimes  repre- 
sented, as  falling  into  that  of  a  pedagogue.  To  you,  gentlemen,  I 
need  not  say  that  the  state  of  things  should  not  be  such  any  where  in 
our  country  as  to  justify  such  a  mode  of  speaking  as  this. 

Of  the  character  of  a  Board  of  trustees  the  same  remarks  will  hold; 
though,  perhaps,  not  with  equal  force.  " 

As  to  the  population  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  of  the  University  it 
should  be  such  as  to  generate  and  maintain  such  a  tone  of  moral  sen- 
timent as  to  keep  in  check  those  tendencies  to  corruption  from  which 
no  society  on  earth  is  altogether  free. 


399 

As  to  the  more  remote  parts  of  the  sphere,  from  which  the  Univer- 
sity must  derive  its  supply  of  students,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind*  that 
the  larger  religious  sects  occupy,  with  their  influence,  the  greater 
portions.  The  smaller  sects,  who  either  because  they  are  not  able  to 
sustain  institutions  of  their  own,  or  because  they  are  liberal  enough  to 
unite  in  common  in  favor  of  an  Institution  whose  advantages  were 
intended  for  all,  have  not  thought  it  necessary  or  expedient  to  provide 
the  means  of  educating  their  sons  apart  by  themselves;  these,  added 
to  those  more  insignificant  portions  of  society  which  are  indifferent  as 
to  sect,  are  the  people  who  may  be  expected  to  send  their  sons  to  our 
University.  A  few  of  the  more  liberal  and  enlightened  of  all  sects 
may  also  be  expected  to  regard  it  with  favor.  The  University  may 
be  so  managed  as  not  to  offend  the  prejudices  of  any  liberal-minded 
good  man.  But  that  it  should  suitvitself  to  the  peculiar  views,  of  any 
sect  or  any  party,  is  neither  to  be  expected  nor  desired.  Whatever 
influence  it  exerts  should  be  calculated  to  bring  all  good  people,  of  all 
denominations,  into  closer  union.  The  spirit  of  the  religion  which  Jesus 
taught  should  live  and  breathe  in  its  halls,  or  it  will  not  prosper — it 
should  not.  As  to  the  furniture  of  means  fee.,  viz:  Books,  Apparatus, 
buildings — It  is  sufficient  merely  to  name  them  on  this  occasion. 

We  are  prepared,  now,  to  ask,  on  which  of  these  sources,  whence 
prosperity  is  to  be  .derived  to  the  Institution,  can  the  Legislature  exert 
an  improving  influence?  Should  the  Legislature  undertake  to  im- 
prove the  Faculty,  on  what  would  the  question  of  appointment  or  re- 
moval turn?  On  the  qualifications  of  the  individual?  Or  his  creed? 
Or  would  it  depend  on  the  amount  of  misrepresentation  which  at  the 
time  might,  t>y  confidential  letters,  be  injected  into  the  Legislative 
counsels? 

It  is  an  appalling  fact  that  no  Literary  Institution  has"  ever  yet 
flourished  under  legislative  management.  This  Institution,  when  the 
undersigned  took  charge  of  it,  ten  years  ago,  was  a  mere  Grammar 
School,  without  a  Library,  without  Apparatus,  and  with  but  two  Pro- 
fessors, having  a  strong  tide  of  prejudice  and  opposition  to  stem.  In 
these  circumstances,  "nonetwas  so  poor  to  do  it  reverence."  It  was 
with  difficulty  a  quorum  of  the  Board  could  be  got  together  once  a 
year.  Yet  under  all  difficulties,  it  grew;  till,  in  1837,  it  numbered 
one  hundred  and  five  students,  and  a  place  in  its  Board  of  Trustees 
was  thought  to  be  an  honor  worth  all  that  mighty  agitation  which  the 
.accuser  has,  by  moving  heaven  and  earth,  excited  on  the  subject. 
Yet  the  Legislature  no  sooner  began  to  be  moved  about  it,  than  it 
sank  at  once.  And  this  is  now  cited,  all  over  the  land  as  another 
proof  that  no  Literary  Institution  can  prosper,  which  is  even  liable  to 
Legislative  influence.  . 

Bat,  for  his  part,  the  undersigned  is  not  yet  prepared  to  give  in  to, 
or  give  up  to,  this  opinion.  .He  yet  believes  that  this  University, 
though  subject  to  Legislative  interference,  can  be  made  to  prosper. 
He  believes*  further,  that  the  Legislative  interference,  in  this  very  in- 
stance will  prove  most  salutary.  The  manner  in  which  this  inter- 
ierence  was  invoked  and  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  it, 


400 

show  who  is  the  person  struck  at,  and  why  he  has  been  struck  at, — 
struck,  at,  now  the  third  time.  You,  gentlemen,  when  you  have 
patiently  examined  into  every  alleged  cause  of  complaint,  will  say 
whether  he  is;guilty,  and  OP  WHAT;  and  he  will  remove  himself  forth- 
with, from  your  Institution  and  from  the  state  which  contains  it — and 
all  will  be  well — will  it?  Or  on  the  contrary,  should  your  report  be 
favorable — will  not  all  be  well?  There  is  some  doubt.  For  the  ac- 
cuser, in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Berry,  says  he  will  renew  his  efforts  every 
year  till  his  object  be  accomplished:  and  should  he  be  able  to  excite 
another  such  commotion  and  tempest,  his  object  will  be  accomplished. 
And,  gentlemen,  should  he  have  this  power,  the  Legislature,  with  all 
the  resources  of  the  State  at  their  command,  cannot  save  the  Univer- 
sity from  prostration  and  ruin. 

The  undersigned  does  not  feel  himself  competent  to  suggest,  with 
any  degree  of  confidence,  any  preventive,  which  it  is  thought,  the 
Legislature  would  feel  themselves  authorized  to  apply.  He  has  heard 
it  suggested,  by  some  honest  and  good  men  of  great  experience,  that 
if  any  person  undertaking  to  prosecute  charges  against  the  State  Uni- 
versity were  to  render  himself  liable  for  the  costs  of  prosecution,  in 
case  he  failed  to  establish  his  charges,  it  would  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  a  case  similar  to  that  which  has,  in  this  instance,  put  the  State  and 
the  University  to  so  much  cost  and  trouble. 

So  far  as  the  prosperity  of  the  institution  may  depend  upon  the  board 
of  trustees,  the  undersigned  has  nothing  to  propose.  The  history  of 
all  literary  institutions  goes  to  establish  the  principle,  that  a  board  of 
trustees  having  been  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  should  be  left,  in  all 
ordinary  cases,  to  manage  the  trust  committed  to  their  hands,  unless 
the  interference  of  the  Legislature  should  be  invoked  by  the  Board 
themselves,  acting  in  their  joint  and  .corporate  capacity. 

In  reference  to  the  wants  of  the  state,  it  has  long  been  the  convic- 
tion of  the  undersigned  that  a  department  of  Didactics,  such  as  is 
sketched  in  his  letters  to  Mr.  Dunning,  and  such  as  corresponds  in 
most  respects  to  the  Normal  Schools  of  Europe,  is  greatly  needed  in 
the  University.  It  would  enable  Farmers  in  moderate  circumstances 
to  fit  their  sons  for  those  positions  and  occasions,  in  which  the  inter- 
ests and  views  of  that  highly' useful  and  respectable  class  of  the  com- 
munity needto.be  represented  and 'advocated. 

.  In  obedience  to  the  resolution  requiring  the  undersigned  to  lay  be- 
fore you  a  brief  account  of  the  paternal  system  of  college  government, 
he  begs  leave  to  submit  to  the  committee  the  following  brief  extract 
from  the  annual  catalogue  for  the  year  1837 — 8,  page  11,  and  an  ex- 
tract on  the  same  subject  from  a  discourse  delivered  before  the  Legis- 
lature; and  were  it  not  for  fear  of  trespassing  too  far  on  the  patience 
of  the  committee,  he  would  be  gratified  to  submit  to  their  inspection  a 
still  more  expanded  view  of  the  same  subject,  contained  in  a  discourse 
delivered  before  the  college  of  professional  teachers,  and  published  in 
the  5th  vol.  of  their  transactions. 

"The  government  is  paternal,  the  reason  and  moral  sense  of  the 
student  are  called  into  exercise  by  frequent  appeals  in  relation  to  the 


401 

matter  and- manner  of  his  conduct;  and  he  is  thus  taught  to  gov- 
ern himself.1'  This  I  consider  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Pater- 
nal System.  It  is  expanded  in  the  following  remarks,  extracted  from 
my  "Discourse  on  Education,  delivered  before  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Indiana,  at  the  request  of  the  joi  nt  committee  of  education, 
and  published  in  pursuance  of  a  vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
Jan.  17,  1830."  They  are  found  on  pages  20  and  21.  "In  the  re- 
marks which  I  have  to  offer,  as  to  the  methods  proper  to  be  adopted  for 
the  purpose  of  guarding  against  the  formation  of  evil  habits,  I  can  not 
be  particular.  I  may  be  allowed  to  specify  one  thing  which,  if  I  am 
not  utterly  mistaken,  has  had  a  most  pernicious  influence,  and  must 
have,  whenever  it  is  adopted.  I  allude  to  the  practice  of  governing 
students  by  a  multiplicity  of  written  laws,  supported  as  they  must  be,  by 
a  system  of  espionage.  The  laws  of  a  state  differ  essentially  from  those 
of  a  school.  The  former  have  for  their  object  the  protection  of  individ- 
uals'in  their  just  rights:  that  of  the  latter  is  the  formation  of  charac- 
ter. Young  men  should  be  formed  in  character  and  habit,  so  as  not 
merely  to  shun  vice,  and  to  practice  virtue,  but  to  love  the  latter  and 
detest' the  former.  And  this  is  what  mere  law  and  authority  can  not 
do.  No  one  becomes  good  by  constraint.  Besides,  laws  often  pro- 
voke to  their  own  violation.  A  generous  youth  does  not  like  to  be 
commanded  to  do  what  he  knows  he  ought  to  do,  and  would  do  if  left 
to  himself.  What  he  does  by  constraint,  or  under  the  appearance  of 
constraint,  he  loses  the  credit  of  doing,  further;  the  formation  of  char- 
acter contemplates,  a  thousand  things,  which  change  their  nature,  if 
enforced  by  authority.  If  you  go  about  to  make  people  religious  by 
compulsion,  you  make  them  hoypocrites.  Who- would  think  of  teach- 
ing politeness  by  rules  and  penalties?  Further  still;  if  you  lay  down 
a  law,  it  must  be  invariable.  But  the  dispositions  of  the  young  are 
different,  and  demand  a  different  treatment.  Yet  again:  watch  a 
boy,  and  you  do  him  an  injury:  you  treat  him  as  a  slave;  and  such 
treatment  will  gradually  generate  a  base  and  servile  spirit,  which  will 
need  to  be  watched.  Too  much  government  is  always  injurious,  a 
maxim  which  rulers  are  sure  to  learn.  There  is  but  one  law  fn  heaven, - 
the  law  "of  love;  and  the  Author  of  .our  salvation  has  proposed  no  other 
for  the  government  of  those  whom  He  is  forming  for  an  eternal  resi- 
dence in  that  happy  place.  The  society  of  a  college  ought  to  be  a 
family  in  which  the  faculty  is  the  parent  and  the  pupils  the  children — 
of  different  tempers  and  attainments,  and  therefore  to  be  treated  dif- 
ferently, but  all  under  the  same  kind  and  paternal  government.  And 
those  who  cannot  be  governed  in  this  way,  'it  would  be  wrong  to  ed- 
ucate, 'if  it  were  possible/' 

It  will  be  observed  from  these  extracts  thaUh.e}Paternal  System  stands 
opposed  not  to  all  laws  whatever,  but  only  to  such  "a  multiplicity"  of 
them  as  would,  in  carrying  them  into  effect,  render  necessary  a  system 
of  espionage^  For  instance,  in  some  Institutions,  letters  sent  home  by 
the  pupils  must  first  be  inspected  by  the  Faculty. — Let  each  professor 
be  strict  in  requiring  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the  recitation 
room,  and  he  will  soon  find  out  who  do  not  behave  well  out  of  it.  And, 
56 


402 


let  such,  after  sufficient  trial,  be    dismissed,  that  they  may,   before  the 
season  of  youth    be  past,  be  set  to  some  other  employment,  in  which 
they  may  *be  useful  in  future  life,  to  themselves  and  others. 
All  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

A«   W  Y  -Ll-liu 

Bloomington  Sept. -25th  1840. 


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